Molten Rock
by Ignika Kaita
Summary: Based on a comic from MOCPages. Two beings. Callan, Toa and Lord of Fire. Stonewall, a mechincal Marshall with the Elements of Iron, Stone, and Earth.What happens when a strange fate brings these two into combat. As the old saying goes: "One shall stand, one shall fall." Rated T for Violence.


_**Molten Rock**_

_**Unknown location**_

A lone Toa stood at a forgotten field. He wore red-and-gold armor, bearing a golden Hau on each shoulder. Icy blue eyes flickered from behind his red Ruru-shaped Kakama. The design of his armor showed his high status. He was no mere Toa. He was a Lord of Fire, rivaled only by the other Lords of the Elements. He held a blade that held the essence of Fire, with two smaller ones attached to his sides. The cyan heartlight visibly on his chest shined like a lightstone, measuring his pulse. On his back was a cape, black as night. His name was Callan. He who defeated Magmagear and The Rouge. The brother to Davix and Jojo. A power that matched that of the Lord of Blue Flames, Cossy. A member of the Toa Gamma.

And right now, none of them were around. For once, he was actually wishing Jojo was here. Even if chaos did tend to follow the young Matoran. But here, he was alone. Where 'here' is was his current question. All he could see was rust and dust. A battlefield from the war between the Brotherhood of Makuta and The Dark Hunters?

As he pondered, he heard something moving among the sand. He looked down at his feet, and knew something was wrong. His shadow was changing shape, as if something were…

He leapt forward, hearing the sound of a heavy weapon slice into where he had been. Callan landed on his feet, spinning around as he did so. Who, or rather what, his attacker was, came as a shock. Standing at his former place was a being in ash-grey and silver armor, with small hints of black. He was around 7 feet tall, and was armored to the teeth. Well, if he even has teeth. One shoulder had 3 short blades on it, the other a large shield. Acidic green eyes-no_, optics_-burned into the Toa's soul. He wielded a large, barbed sword. As he looked closer, he couldn't see any organic tissue. No flesh at all. Was this entity like Magmagear? Or perhaps something different? Something, though, told him that he was _FAR_ worse than the Dark Hunter.

"So,_ this_ is the fabled Lord of Fire," He began. His voice was strange and alien. It bore little to no emotion, save for scraps of interest and boredom. The voice itself was monotone, almost as mechanical as its bearer. "I've fought many under such a title, all of them fragile as glass."

He lifted his sword onto his shoulder, glaring down at the Toa. "Would you be any different, or so much the same tale?"

Callan raised his as well. "Who in the pits of Karzahni are you supposed to be?"

The robotic being's faceplate didn't change. "My name is of no importance to you." He drew his blade, as if preparing for war. "Still, to answer your question, it is Stonewall. Satisfied now?" Come to think of it, there might soon be a war. If the tension in the air didn't signal its beginning, the shifting earth did.

A wave of dirt and ash flung Callan into the dead air, nearly losing his trusty blade. Stonewall leapt into his space with surprising speed and power. In a nanosecond, he was faceplate-to-Kanohi with the Fire Lord. The latter, though, struck the sentient machine with a well-placed fireball. This didn't damage the Marshal, but it did stun him. Callan further advanced his attack by activating his Kakama, homing into his opponent. They crashed into the dry stone below, with Callan having minor damage. When the dust cleared, his victorious grin turned to dismay. The metallic chassis was nowhere to be found. Almost as if it were teleported away.

Suddenly, the ground snaked around the Toa's ankles, swallowing him whole. He fell into a cavern, with a small piece of land centered in a polluted underground lake. Dozens of shattered bodies dotted the area, their armor rusting away. Various weapons of all sorts littered the field as well. Axes, swords, daggers, staffs, spears, arrows, guns, and many more weapons. For a moment, he could've swore that he even saw a Devastator.

He heard a distant metallic rumbling, turning to a pile of corroding bodies. He tightened his grip, slowly approaching the pile. When he was in range, he lit up his sword, slamming it down on the pile. All he found was rust and slag. Said substances began moving together, however. Callan barely managed to dodge the wave of heat and iron as it erupted like a volcano. When landed on his feet, though, he soon had the air knocked out of him. As he fell Kanohi-first into the dirt, he almost skidded off the small island. He rose and turned to see Stonewall, now wielding a massive hammer. While most of it was old, he could make out a few spots out of place. Almost good as new in some areas.

_Iron…_ He thought. _This guy possesses Iron and Stone_. He mentally slapped himself upon that realization. _He must've been manipulating that pile earlier. He __**knew**__ I'd investigate, tried to surprise me._

The bulk mechiniod let out a battle cry, hammer above his head. Callan thought that it would've slowed him down, but it didn't. His blade met with the blunt weapon, shaking the cavern. Both were caught in a dance to the death, swinging and deflecting each blow. It was luck that turned the tables when Callan's sword caught the machine's weapon by the handle. He yanked it free from its master's servos, slamming it back into him. The general was flung into the water, numerous chemicals o the surface. In a blink of an eye, it became an inferno. Stonewall dove under the H2O, narrowly dodging the acidic flames. He swam toward the pillar of sand and rock, where the island was held in place.

Channeling Elemental Energy into his servo, he curled it into an iron fist. He slammed it into the pillar, loosing grains and chunks of stone. As expected, the Toa of Fire soon fell alongside the rumble, now vulnerable to the elements. Just by looking at him, the android-ish entity concluded that he never learned to swim. He also knew that Toa had lungs. He himself, however, had no such flesh or organs. He heard a faint crack, turning to the wall behind Callan. The chemicals must've weakened the cavern walls. Too late, it collapsed on itself, drawing in the very lake with it. Both combatants shared the same fate.

Each struggled against the currents, avoiding the derbies. Stonewall finally managed to get a grip on some massive rock, pulling himself back on to the surface. The gapping tunnel when on, like down a Doom Viper's throat. The sudden rush downward reminded him of a surfer's life, riding the waves, be they magma or water. He heard a sudden groaning, turning to see the Lord of Fire rising as well. Much of his Kanohi was corroded, eaten away by the water's pollutants. He could see his skull, even a little bit of his cyan, crystalline brain. The Ta-Toa let out a fury of fireballs, each blocked by the Marshall's shield. The latter retaliated by tearing apart his opponent's platform, forcing him to leap to another. And another, and another, the pattern when on until…

A fiery fist slammed into the side of his faceplate, his shield torn off during the assault. He responded by transforming a servo into a talon, slashing off Callan's Kakama. He then shoved his boot into the Toa abdomen, flinging him away from him. He used this time assess the damage, tracing a couple of grippers across his flaceplate. An optical lens cracked, surface of his left "cheek" reduced to molten slag. Smalls signs of corrosion on his left arm. The damage was minimal, but still a hindrance. His optics soon picked up an increase in light approaching. They were at the end of the tunnel. He quickly did a rerun on his systems, all of which still operational. Suddenly, Callan rammed into Stonewall, pushing them both out the mouth of the tunnel. The water exited as a waterfall, down into a bottomless pit. And both combatants were heading down toward it.

Stonewall, though, had other plans. A great sonic boom echoed across the gapping mouth below. His opponent felt himself rising into the air. He lost grip of the mech, barely managing to grab his foot. He looked in surprise to see something he missed: twin turbine-like machines on the back of Stonewall. A jetpack, he presumed. An idea came to him, one that would make Vezon look sane. He carefully channeled as much heat as he could in his hand. Once it reached its peak, he flung it in-between the rockets. By the time Stonewall caught on to him, it was already too late.

_**BBBBOOOOOOOMMMMMM!**_

The force of the explosion blew away Callan, like a burning leaf in the wind. He couldn't see the robotic warrior, but he assumed that he was within the giant fireball, falling to the doomed earth below. Using what Elemental Energy he had left, he sent a long flare downwards. He could feel the sudden rush fading, replaced by a gentle air. Sadly, it was only for a short time. He soon ran out of power, and began his descent toward ground level. His left leg was the first to hit point zero, armor snapping like twigs. He could feel organic tissue twisting into an unpleasant shape. Mechanical implants within him jumbled all over his insides. He let out a bloody scream into the empty void, and did so again as he rose.

Callan limped toward a new sight: smoke rising not far from him. When he reached his destination, he found a small but deep crater. It was merely 15 ft. in diameter, 8 ft. deep. There at the bottom, was the charred chassis of Stonewall, lying on his back. His chestplate was torn off, revealing clockwork and wiring. The Ta-Toa could see a spark of tamed lightning jump every once in a while. His whole right arm was smashed off the shoulder joint, lying beside him in pieces. His right foot was absent, most likely destroyed. He couldn't tell, but it seemed that the whole back was blown off as well. One of his optics was shattered, revealing the machinery behind it. All around the body was creaks and holes, various fluids leaking from them.

Callan flinched at the carnage. Carnage_ he_ was responsible for. He knew that it was against the Toa Code to kill, but what choice did he have. Besides, the general was a machine. So would be count as a living being? He didn't know, and he didn't want to stick around for long. He had to find medically help, _**N-**_

Something swift stabbed him through the chest, exiting past his spinal cord. He let a screaming yelp, some organic protodermis being coughed out as well. Was this what they called "blood"? He blinked for a moment, and noticed something wrong: Stonewall's body was absent. He instantly caught focus on something directly in front of him. There, gripping the longsword impaled in him, was the warrior of machinery. His optics meet with the Toa's crystalline eyes, before yanking the blade out. Callan fell to his knees, then skull-first into the dirt. Before he hit the ground, though, the light in his eyes and Heartlight went out. Extinguished, just like his life force. Stonewall collapsed as well, catching a glimpse of his opponent's body bursting into cyan fireworks, made purely of solid light. Pillars of said substance rose from the dead earth, shattering the sky into digital bits and pixels. The Marshall of The Third Fragments felt a feathery weight lift upward as well, back to reality.

_**Hidden bunker….**_

A pod among dozens opens, steam hissing like serpents. Out of it came a grey servo, then the whole bulk of Stonewall. Beside the pod was another robotic warrior. It bore gunmetal-grey-and-brick-red armor, with blades on the back of its forearms. A pronged chestplate and spiked lower-leg armor was also present. Its Kanohi was fashioned like the Ignika, back when Vezon was its guardian. Orange-red eyes burned like embers of a forest fire. This was a Blackfire unit, one of the Commander models. Specifically, this was C-BF-U628.

"Welcome back, General." Droned the greeter. "How did you fare in the electronic illusion?"

If Stonewall was designed to, he would've smiled. "Barely survived, but a glorious battle not the less." Finally, he'd found someone worthy of an opponent. Or perhaps ally? It didn't matter, so long as there was action. He was, after, created as a living war machine. "Do you have anything to report?"

The drone nodded. "Lord Nutaj wishes to have an audience with you."

Nutaj? The Dexogal of Water and Magnetism? What he have in store for him?

"He says that you're to report to him, ASAP." Alerted 628.

Stonewall nodded, making his way out of the practice chambers. He wondered what the sapphire-and-silver clan being would want to speak of? Another mission, perhaps. Only one way to learn. Another day, another battle to be fought.


End file.
